Local judge remembered for his humor

Tuesday

Oct 3, 2017 at 7:04 AMOct 3, 2017 at 7:04 AM

Alyssa Pressler Gazette staff AlyssaPress71

Francis Essic and Berlin Carpenter Jr. used to end their frequent meetings at the Gaston Country Club with a wave and a "See you tomorrow." It's those little moments Essic will miss most about his friend, he said.

Carpenter, a retired Gaston County District Court judge, passed away on Friday, Sept. 28 at his home. Before he was a judge he worked as an assistant district attorney, and before that he established his own private practice.

An Army veteran during World War II, Carpenter also was active in the First Presbyterian Church in Gastonia and an avid golfer.

For around 40 years Essic and Carpenter were golfing buddies. Essic boasted that one year the two of them played 220 rounds of golf together.

"We played an awful lot of golf together," he said with a laugh.

On Monday morning, a memorial was held for Carpenter at First Presbyterian Church, which Essic attended along with close to 20 other golfers Carpenter used to play with. The chapel was near full with Carpenter's family and friends from the golf club and from the courthouse, Essic said.

Among those in attendance was Superior Court Judge Jesse Caldwell, who first met Carpenter when he interned at his private practice in 1971. Then, when Caldwell became a defense attorney, he often tried cases against Carpenter, who was working as an assistant district attorney.

"I’ve known him for a long time," Caldwell said. "He’s been retired since the late 1980s, but we kept in touch."

For both Caldwell and Essic, one of the traits they most remember about their friend was his sense of humor. Caldwell remembers Carpenter joking around with him when they were working on the same case, Carpenter as a prosecutor and Caldwell as a defense attorney.

Even when he was a judge, this didn't slow down. Caldwell said once a defense attorney was asking for his client, who happened to be a topless dancer, to be released on bond. According to Caldwell, the attorney thanked Carpenter for hearing the case because he was leaving for the beach later that day.

"He called the attorney to the bench and he said 'Are you trying to get her out on bail to take that topless dancer to the beach with you?'" Caldwell remembered. "That just shows the sense of humor he had."

Carpenter's family asked that instead of flowers, people do kind things for others in his name. This seems fitting for a man who not only had a great sense of humor, but also did kind things for others whenever he could.

"He was so down to earth; so approachable," Caldwell said. "He was a friend to everybody and treated everybody with respect and dignity."

You can reach Alyssa Pressler at 704-869-1819 or Twitter.com/AlyssaPress71.